For all of its beautiful elegance, players gliding across the ice at breakneck speed, tic/tack/toe passes, and jaw-dropping goals, the NHL is also full of bone-jarring body checks, slap shots to the shins, and glove-dropping fights.
At the age of 40 plus, who needs that sort of abuse?
Sometimes just getting out of bed and down the stairs in one piece is a win for half of us.
Yet there have been a select few who have defied the odds and battled it out not only on the ice but with Father Time to etch their name into history, chasing the holy grail of hockey championships and refusing to let their age dictate their passion for the sport.
Here are the oldest NHL players – now and throughout hockey history – broken down by position.
Oldest NHL Forward
Gordie Howe – 52 years, 11 days
At 52 years old, Gordie Howe was the oldest NHL player of all time.
Known simply as “Mr. Hockey” and for good reason, Howe last donned an NHL jersey 33 years after his rookie season.
Signed by the Detroit Red Wings in 1944, Howe made his NHL debut in 1946 at the age of 18. Over the next quarter of a century (yup you read that correctly), Howe collected four Stanley Cups, 21 All-NHL teams, 23 All-Star Game appearances, six Art Ross Trophies, six Hart Memorial Trophies, and led the league in scoring on five occasions on route to an obvious spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
And if that wasn’t enough, Howe was the inspiration behind the “Gordie Howe hat trick”, accounting for a goal, assist, and fight in the same game.
After 25 years with the Red Wings, Howe retired, only to join the WHA two years later, playing four years with the Houston Aeros and two with the New England Whalers.
Seeing that he was still capable of putting up points at the age of 50, the Whalers, who merged into the NHL as the Hartford Whalers, brought Howe, along with his sons Mark and Marty, into the league with them.
While most might think that the elder Howe was there just to sign autographs and take a token shift here and there, they were wrong.
Gordie played all 80 regular season games and recorded 41 points. A presence in the locker room and a walking encyclopedia of knowledge on the bench, Howe helped the Whalers reach the postseason in their first year.
Howe’s final NHL season also provided fans with a passing-of-the-torch moment as his last All-Star Game was also Wayne Gretzky’s first.
Current: Joe Pavelski – 39 years +
Oldest NHL Defenseman
Chris Chelios – 48 years, 71 days
Unfortunately for Chris Chelios, the final two seasons of his Hall-of-Fame career were marred by a pair of pointless efforts.
However, by no means would it be fair to judge the three-time Stanley Cup champion and Norris Trophy winner by what he did at the ages of 47 and 48.
Selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the 40th pick in the 1981 NHL Draft following what seemed to be a script from a corny Sunday night made-for-TV movie script that saw him borrowing money for a bus ticket to get home, Chelios turned from a teenage player down on his luck to becoming one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in History.
As a rookie, Chelios not only made the All-Rookie Team but also played in the first of his 11 All-Star Games.
During the third official season of his NHL career, Chelios helped the Canadiens capture their 23rd Stanley Cup, defeating the Calgary Flames. After seven seasons in Canada, Chelios – a native of Chicago – was traded to the Blackhawks, allowing the defenseman a chance to play in front of his hometown crowd.
Although he’d capture two more Norris Trophies while with Chicago, the furthest the team would go during his eight-plus seasons was a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
At the age of 37 when many players have hit retirement, Chelios found himself on the move, this time to play for the Red Wings.
For the next decade, Chelios – despite the struggles with injuries and wear and tear – provided leadership and defensive stability for Detroit, helping them to a pair of Stanley Cup titles in 2002 and 2008, the latter of which etched Chelios’ name in the history book as the oldest player to win a title.
Chelios finished his career playing seven games with the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009-10 season.
Current: Mark Giordano – 40 years +
Oldest NHL Goaltender
Maurice Roberts – 45 years, 345 days
In 1925, Maurice “Moe” Roberts became the youngest goaltender in NHL history. In 1951, he became the oldest.
With a career that officially spanned four decades, Roberts etched his name into the hockey history books.
Two years after playing his final season at Somerville High School, Roberts made his NHL debut at the age of 19 with the Boston Bruins, coming off the bench to secure a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Maroons.
Roberts then spent the next five years playing in the Can-Am Hockey League with the New Haven Eagles and the Philadelphia Arrows.
During the 1931-32 season, he got a call to join the New York Americans when their star goaltender Roy Worters went down with an injury. Roberts finished his only NHL game that season with a 5-1 victory over the rival New York Ranger.
After playing yet another season in the CAHL, he got a second opportunity to impress the NHL front offices, suiting up with the Americans for six games. Unfortunately, things didn’t play out as well as his first season with the team, finishing with a 1-4 record.
Another lengthy stint in the minors was interrupted by a four-year commitment with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Rather than heading back home for a 9-to-5 gig, Roberts joined the Washington Lions of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for a season.
At 40 years old, Roberts received an offer from the Chicago Black Hawks to join their coaching staff as an assistant trainer, a position that allowed him to get on the ice from time to time after practice.
During an era in which a number of teams played with just one goalie on their roster, the Black Hawks found themselves in a sticky situation on November 25th, 1951.
Harry Lumley suffered an injury and there was no backup on the bench.
Throwing on a set of pads and uniform, Roberts hit the ice despite not having played an official NHL game in nearly eighteen years. Entering the game trailing 5-2, there wasn’t much pressure on Roberts to do anything but get through the rest of the night unscathed.
Unfortunately, this was an era in which shots on goal were still not a recorded stat, but over the course of his twenty minutes of ice time, not a single puck made it past Roberts.
Despite being on the ice for the loss, Roberts headed back to the locker room and officially into retirement praised by both coaches and teammates.
Current: Marc-Andre Fleury: 38 years +
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